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Should You Refinish or Replace Your Hardwood Floor?

Home and business owners in the East Bay Area often struggle with elementary remodeling questions. Here’s a common dilemma: your hardwood floors are in less than perfect condition. Should you rip out the boards and replace the wood? Or should you just refinish the wood that’s there?

This question sounds simple, but it’s a quandary that has the potential to really throw you for a loop. Let’s look at the some of the pros and cons of each method.

Refinishing – pros

Less expensive than replacing the floors;

If you work with an experienced company, like the team here at Elegant Floors, you can get the job done quickly, using environmentally-friendly processes;

Refinishing can easily change the color, texture, and “look” of the floors;

If just a few boards are warped, you can replace those boards and refinish the rest of the floor for a seamless, integrated look at a lower price.

Refinishing – cons

Refinishing can be a messy, time-consuming process, if you are not careful;

Refinishing can lead to logistical problems, particularly if it’s a big job and you want to continue to live at your house during the process;

The chemicals used in certain refinishing jobs can be irritating and can create pollution problems and inhalation hazards;

Not appropriate for all jobs.

Replacing hardwood floors – pros

Often takes less time and leaves less mess than the refinishing process;

The way to go if you want to change the direction of the wood, change the design (e.g. from parquet to regular planks), or change the species of wood used;

Great if your floors are really old and decayed – or if they are soft and bouncy;